Since its inception in 1954, the Godzilla has been varying degrees of an allegory about the horrors of war. Ishirō Honda wanted the world to see the massive devastation, illness, and civilian impact of the atomic bombs, and warn the human race against continuing down such a destructive path. While it’s completely fair to call out the U.S. for this war crime and and accelerating the threat to end all life on the planet, most movies completely ignore Japan’s role in the events that lead up to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Despite what Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah may have you believe, allying with the Nazis and committing atrocities on the Korean peninsula is not something to wax nostalgic about. In addition to killing military personnel and civilians alike in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Imperial Japanese Army abducted thousands of women forcing them into sexual slavery across southeast Asia. The Japanese government long denied the existence of these “comfort women” and “comfort stations,” but an apology was eventually issued in 1993. That, however spurred a backlash among right-wing nationalists in Japan, notably former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who would later sign an agreement to donate money to the victims in South Korea, but insist that they stop using the term “sex slaves” and remove the memorial statue from its location in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. Essentially this was international hush money. This nationalist movement also led to increasing calls to abolish or reinterpret Article 9 of Japan’s constitution which essentially waives the country’s right to declare war. The wording comes in two parts, first renouncing the threat of force to settle disputes, and second that land, sea, and air forces shall never be maintained. Some view the JSDF itself as unconstitutional based on that wording, but Japan’s supreme court determined the country does have a right to maintain forces to defend itself. Still, the country continues to push the envelope, ruling it has the right to assist allies in foreign conflicts, starting with the War in Iraq. In 2014, Article 9 was officially “reinterpreted” to allow this, but bypassed the constitutional procedure to do so. It’s along this path of ramped up nationalism and militarism eschewing the Japanese constitution that 2001’s Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack gives us a unique interpretation of Honda’s anti-war legacy.

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